Patrick Mullahy (1912–1982)

430. Oedipus Myth and Complex: A Review of Psychoanalytic Theory, by Patrick Mullahy (read 4 May 1952) I began reading this book on Apr 27, 1952, and on that date said: "What a silly thing are many of Freud's concepts. He is a psycho--what with his castration complex and penis-envy. The height of idiocy so far I thought was reached by the statement that a girl's joy was very great when she finally had a son with the long-desired penis. It nearly makes me run around: the world was as nutty as Freud." On Apr 28 I said: "After several chapters on Freudian views the author moves on to Alfred Adler, who seems not nearly so contrived, contenting himself with a drive for masculinity as the explanation of much. Jung is more subtle and hence more vicious than Freud. But the real corker is Otto Rank's birth trauma and desire for return to intrauterine security. The primal attraction in coition is--the desire to return to the womb! The Greeks crawled into the Trojan horse for the same reason! He has a neat little scheme which says the ordinary man tries to be like others. The neurotic man tries to not to be like others and reproaches himself for not producing a worthwhile achievement. The third type tries to be himself and never reproaches himself." I finished the book on May 4, 1952, and said: "Not a good book."… (altro)